The Federated Suns Navy (FSN) lost assets to the Star League Defense Force during the founding of the Star League, as with the rest of the AFFS. First Prince Alexander Davion transferred twenty-three FSN WarShips to the SLDF,[1] and by 2575 the FSN was operating seventy-eight assorted WarShips[2] including a number of locally-produced designs, such as half a dozen of the aging Defender-class battlecruisers[3] and a number of older Terran Hegemony designs.[4]

At the outset of the Reunification War the FSN was operating a number of significant WarShip formations, each assigned the designation of Task Force, with the Task Force number corresponding to the mission assigned to each formation. Prince Alexander assigned a large percentage of the FSN to the war against the Taurian Concordat; these WarShips and their associated JumpShips and DropShips were divided into four individual Task Forces. Task Force 1 was largely a paper formation, assigned a small number of patrol ships and based out of the New Syrtis system. Task Force 2 was a larger formation and was originally assembled to patrol the spinward reaches of the border with the Concordat. Task Force 3 was another paper formation, consisting of a small number of patrol ships based in the June system, and Task Force 4 - the largest of the formations by 2577 - was tasked with supporting the invasion of the Concordat and incorporated many of the ships that had originally been assigned to Task Force 2.[4]

Each of these Task Forces was further subdivided into squadrons with designations based on their role; during Case AMBER, Task Force 2.7 was a squadron consisting of twelve WarShips stationed in the Panpour system and which had incorporated all of the remaining Task Force 2 ships; Task Force 4 was operating in four squadrons, designated Task Forces 4.1 - 4.4. In total, these two task forces comprised four Aegis-class heavy cruisers, three Congress-class frigates, seven New Syrtis-class carriers, five Baron-class destroyers, nine Davion II and seven Davion I-class destroyers, ten Vigilant-class corvettes, ten Vincent-class corvettes and seven Robinson-class transports. This naval commitment - some sixty WarShips - represented by far the greater part of the total FSN WarShip contingent, and was comprehensively defeated in a series of battles at Panpour and Tentativa by a Concordat naval fleet consisting of some forty-one assorted WarShips operating in two squadrons.[4]

The Concordat naval force assembled for Case AMBER incorporated six Winchester-class cruisers, five Dart-class cruisers, thirteen Wagon Wheel-class frigates, eight Concordat-class frigates and nine Pinto-class corvettes. The Taurian naval commander, MarshalDavid Santos, struck first at the ships of Task Force 2.7 in the Panpour system; Task Force 2.7 consisted of seven Robinsons, one New Syrtis, two Vigilants and two Vincents. Santos attacked 2.7 with half of the ships available to him and comprehensively destroyed the FSN Task Force, which lost nine of the twelve WarShips during the battle with the remaining three WarShips being captured by the Taurians, who lost just one WarShip in return.[5]

Task Force 4 had divided itself into two groups to secure the Tentativa system, and those two groups each then divided into two squadrons, with one squadron remaining at each of the zenith and nadir jump points while the remaining two squadrons deployed to intercept what they believed was a Taurian squadron in the vicinity of Tentativa V, but which was in fact a single monitoring ship acting as a decoy. Marshal Santos had accurately predicted the tactics the FSN would use, and jumped three squadrons of WarShips to the zenith point, destroying six of the ten FSN WarShips there and capturing the remainder. The FSN commander, AdmiralSarah Vincent, led her squadron back to the zenith point, only to be trapped when the second half of Santos' fleet jumped in; within an hour, all bar four of Vincent's WarShips had been destroyed or captured, including her flagship, which had been lost with all hands.[5]

The remainder of Task Force 4 attempted to reunite at the nadir jump point under the command of Vice AdmiralBrimin Davis-Peckholt, only for the squadron deployed there to be ambushed by Santos' entire fleet - which had quick-charged and jumped in - and although Davis-Peckholt's squadron attacked and fought bravely, they lost a further five WarShips before managing to fight their way free. In total, the FSN lost thirty-nine WarShips to the Taurians, with eleven of those captured, along with the destruction of dozens of DropShips and hundreds of Aerospace Fighters. In exchange, the Concordat navy had lost just three WarShips.[5]

The Council Edict of 2650 severely limited the size of the military each Great House was allowed to maintain, and as a consequence the majority of the FSN's WarShip fleet was mothballed. The mission of the FSN was based around the twin doctrines of defense and transport of the AFFS, roles that led to the FSN relying heavly on conventional aerospace assets; as a consequence funding for the FSN move daway from offensive fleet capabilities and into areas such as transport, customs patrol work and anti-commerce raiding. The FSN began to expand again following the issue of the Preparedness Act of 2735, which allowed it to stockpile substantial quantities of assets and train a deep reserve of personnel, and the repeal of the Council Edict of 2650 allowed the FSN to begin buying new WarShips and to bring old ships out of mothballs.[6]

Made of up of the best DropShip crews and fighter wings, the Department of Naval Assault (DoNA) was the smallest of the conventional naval divisions within the FSN. The DoNA was little more than a skeleton force consisting of show units in 2740, but by 2765 had been expanded significantly. The units of the DoNA were the first into any combat zone and the last to leave; as the DoNA expanded it made increasing use of new Vengeance-class fighter carriers transported on Star Lord-class JumpShips.[6]

The Department of Naval Defense (DoND) was comprised of dedicated DropShip squadrons responsible for patrolling the borders of the Federated Suns to provide a defense against incursions from hostile nations - even though there had officially been no such hostile nations since the founding of the Star League - and a defense against commerce raiders. Although the DoND operated a number of formations, one of the most common was based around two Leopard CVs, two Achilles, an Intruder equipped with Ares close assault landing craft, a cargo DropShip and a fighter wing; the Ares craft allowed these squadrons to conduct marine boarding operations, and the entire squadron would most commonly use a Star Lord-class JumpShip for transport.[6]

The largest of the conventional naval forces within the FSN in 2765, the Department of Naval Transport (DoNT) operated as a core of Jumpships and carrier DropShips within the transport division, to which escort DropShips and aerospace wings were then attached at a squadron level to provide integrated defenses; these escort ships and fighters trained regularly with the transport squadrons to which they were assigned. The DoNT also had operational command over two of the Robinson II-class transports operated by the DoL.[6].

The Department of the Line (DoL) began a rapid expansion in 2752, bringing mothballed ships back to service as tensions between the various Great Houses continued to increase. The DoL was organized into four Fleets, each of which corresponded to an operational region based upon a corresponding March. The Crucis Fleet was assigned to the Crucis March, the Coreward Fleet to the Capellan March, the Spinward Fleet to the Draconis March and the Rimward Fleet to the Periphery border. In contrast to the other three fleets, each of which maintained a specific zone of deployment, the Crucis Fleet acted as a reserve that could be deployed in reaction to events or in support of the other fleets.[6]

In 2750 the DoL had been operating just twenty-five WarShips,[7] but by 2765 the DoL was operating fifty-one WarShips with more being brought out of mothballs at a steady rate. The four active fleets consisted of the following:[6]